The J-Curve: a literature review

Due to lag structure, currency devaluation is said to worsen the trade balance first and improve it later resulting in a pattern that resemble the letter J, hence the J-Curve phenomenon. Since its introduction by Magee in 1973 Magee, SP. 1973. Currency contracts, pass through and devaluation. Brooking Papers on Economic Activity, 1: 303–25.   (Brooking Papers on Economic Activity, 1, pp. 303–25), a large number of studies have attempted to test the phenomenon using different techniques and different model specifications. The results are at best ambiguous and deserve to be collected together for the future generation of researchers and graduate students. This paper fills such a vacuum in the literature by reviewing the J-Curve related empirical papers.     

Identifying price linkages: a review of the literature and an application to the world market of cotton

This paper reviews the literature of price linkages and examines the degree to which cotton prices are linked; it also tests whether such linkages have improved over the last decade. It concludes that the degree of linkage has improved over the last decade while the main source of this improvement appears to be a result of short-run price transmission and to a lesser extent long-run co-movement.     

关于旅游保险的文献综述

针对2009年以来关于旅游保险的研究进行了梳理。通过对近几年关于旅游保险文献的总结,可以看出学术界关于旅游保险的研究热点在现状、问题及对策的探讨方面,且多为定性分析。同时也找出了一些从新颖角度看待旅游保险的文章,从而可以了解近几年关于旅游保险研究的进展,从而为今后旅游保险的研究方向提供参考,避免相似问题的重复研究,以便切实推进旅游保险市场的发展。     

The shift to services employment: A review of the literature

This paper provides an overview of literature on the employment shift towards services. It follows the three dimensions of structural change: inter-industry productivity differences, the inter-industry division of labor (outsourcing), and shifts in final demand. It concludes that the third dimension gained importance over the last decades although differential productivity growth continued to contribute to the rise of service employment as well. Outsourcing of service tasks from manufacturing industries increased but cannot explain much of the rise in service-industry employment over time. The shift to services is not just a price effect nor is it mainly the effect of the outsourcing of service activities from manufacturing industries. The shift to services is real.     

On the optimal size of legislatures: An illustrated literature review

Several countries have voted reforms in order to reduce the number of national representatives and many others have debated about that possibility. There is, however, no commonly accepted rule for assessing the optimal number of seats in parliament. This article offers a review of the state-of-the-art, presenting the main contributions in political economy and related fields about the question of legislature sizes, their determinants and their impact. Based on a cross-sectional comparison of 139 countries, the review is accompanied with a set of figures and tables that illustrates a set of stylized facts.     

Boosting the spread of new technologies: an integrative propositional analysis of diffusion policies

ABSTRACT

Although many studies have recognised the importance of defining specific public policies to encourage technology diffusion, many authors fail to provide a clear view about either the policies that affect the diffusion of technologies or the effect of the different political instruments. Adopting a content analysis of papers that directly or indirectly refer to the diffusion of a new technology, this study applies the integrative propositional analysis (IPA) methodology to: (a) identify the repertoire of the different diffusion policies identified by previous studies; (b) classify these policies according to the type of instruments that they use; (c) analyse the impact of each policy on the different adoption factors that may inhibit or foster the diffusion of a new technology; and (d) evaluate the scope of each type of policy in terms of the number of affected adoption factors.     

The perception of technological risks: A literature review

In response to rising concern about technological risks, a concerted effort is being made to improve risk analysis methods and risk management approaches. As part of this effort, behavioral and social scientists have produced a substantial body of knowledge of value to risk analysts and decision makers. This paper focuses on behavioral and social science studies of human intellectual limitations in thinking about the risks, factors influencing risk attitudes and perceptions, and factors contributing to social conflicts and disputes about technological activities. A basic assumption of the paper is that analysts and decision makers can benefit from a better understanding of how experts and nonexperts think and make decisions about technological risks. Without such understanding, well-intended policies may be ineffective or even counterproductive.     

The impact of nurse staffing on hospital costs and patient length of stay: a systematic review

Research examining the relationships between nurse staffing, hospital costs, and length of stay is varied using a range of methods and definitions. This lack of coherence in definitions and measurement tools for cost and length of stay makes it difficult to conclude with certainty the results of nurse staffing on hospital cost and length of stay. However, the evidence reflected that significant reductions in cost and length of stay may be possible with higher ratios of nursing personnel in hospital settings. Sufficient numbers of RNs may prevent patient adverse events that cause patients to stay longer than necessary. Patient costs were also reduced with greater RN staffing as RNs have higher knowledge and skill levels to provide more effective nursing care as well as reduce patient resource consumption. Hospital administrators are encouraged to use higher ratios of RNs to non-licensed personnel to achieve their objectives of quality patient outcomes and cost containment.     

Piracy of digital products: A critical review of the theoretical literature

Digital products can be copied at almost no cost and are subject to non-commercial copying by final consumers. Because the copy of a copy typically does not deteriorate in quality, copies can become available on a large scale basis – this can be illustrated by the surge of file-sharing networks. In this paper we provide a critical overview of the theoretical literature that addresses the economic consequences of end-user copying. We analyze basic models of piracy, models with indirect appropriation, models with network effects, and models with asymmetric information. We discuss the applicability of the different modeling strategies to a number of industries such as software, video and computer games, music, and movies.     

Information technology investment strategies: a review and synthesis of the literature

In spite of high importance of information technology (IT) investments, managers do not have sufficient guidelines to formulate IT investment strategy of a firm. In this paper, we review the literature to determine the factors that influence the IT investment strategy. The concept of IT investment strategy so far considered two domains: intensity and proactiveness; we enhance this concept by adding the domain of investment focus. Through this review, we made an attempt to answer three strategic questions related to IT investments: (i) level of investment that a firm should make in IT, that is, investment intensity; (ii) areas of firm where these investments should be more focused, that is, investment focus; and (iii) timing of investment, that is, whether to be an early mover in adopting IT or whether to invest relatively late compared to competitors.     

企业国际化:一个理论与概念框架的文献综述

本文沿用Anderson理论与框架的区别思路,根据企业国际化研究的理论基础就企业国际化研究进行了分类与综述,然后在从变量和概念框架两个层面讨论企业国际化概念框架间联系的基础上,构建了一个综合性的企业国际化概念框架。     

生产性服务业与制造业互动发展:文献综述

本文介绍了目前理论界流行的四种论述生产性服务业与制造业关系的观点,即“需求遵从论”、“供给主导论”、“互动论”和“融合论”。然后,从分工和竞争力两个视角综述了生产性服务业与制造业互动的机制。从产业层面看,生产性服务业的发展能促进经济分工,提高经济效率。从企业微观层面看,制造企业使用生产性服务有利于其提高竞争力。最后,文章对论述生产性服务业与制造业互动关系的实证文献进行了概括。     

Social interaction and economic organization: Toward an integrative microeconomic model

In the context of increasingly complex economies, with information more and more complicated to handle, social interaction may allow spontaneous co-operation and be more efficient than market or state regulations to overcome co-ordination and information problems. This article provides a theoretical model that compares three “pure forms” of economic organization: state-controlled production, unregulated market, and voluntary organization. We model the behavior of agents who are embedded in a social structure that is characterized by three parameters: the intensity of socialization, the size of individual social space, and the overall level of trust in society. We then study how social interaction parameters influence the relative efficiency of the three different forms of organization.     

Managing temporary staffing services: selecting the right agency

Hospitals frequently must resort to using temporary staffing agencies. As an informed client and skilled negotiator, the nurse executive can obtain the highest quality and best price possible.     

出口加工区的技术溢出效应的文献综述

我国从建立第一批出口加工区以来,至今已过去六个年头了.随着经济的发展,最初建立出口加工区以便于管理出口加工贸易的功能逐步转变为如何更好地拉动当地经济发展.本文对上世纪70年代以来国内外经济学在出口加工技术溢出效应地研究进行了总结,并指出研究的一些不足之处,以期为我国开展相应地研究提供借鉴.     

The long and the short in migration decisions: an American case study

The author attempts an empirical analysis of the migration process. She starts with the assumption that migration involves an attempt to maximize long-term income and includes both micro-level aspects of individual's decisions to migrate and macro-level aspects, that is to say, aggregate migration flows. The model is used to analyze black internal migration in the United States between 1910 and 1970